GOVERNOR FOSTER: I just called you "Chief," you're big
into nicknames. (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: Well, Governor, thanks for
coming. You know, I always love Louisiana and I love the
people of Louisiana. And I always knew the people of
Louisiana were a little different -- (laughter) -- in a good
way. And you just showed the nation why.

So I want to welcome you all for coming. Thanks for
being here, Mike. And it's good to see the First Lady,
too. Welcome to the White House, and welcome you all.

This "Spirit of Louisiana" truck really does show the deep concern
of the good folks of Louisiana. Everybody in our nation
realized on September 11th, we were all affected. They might
have hit right around the corner here and they might have hit in New
York City, but it affected all of us. And the good people of
Louisiana realize that.

I particularly love this story, about how Ronnie decides to do
something on behalf of the fellow citizens. So he gets on
the phone and calls a local radio personality -- the
Governor. (Laughter.) And out of that came a huge
volunteer effort in the state of Louisiana to provide help and aid to
the good people of New York City.

And I think Americans needs to understand that this is the kind of
story that makes our country so unique and so
different. It's a story that makes me so proud to be the
President of such a great -- such great land.

I want to thank Senator for coming. Thank you, Mary, for
being here. I want to thank the two congressmen for being
here. John and David, thank you all for
coming. Welcome. I want to thank all the
volunteers who worked on this project. I want to thank the
firefighters and police officers from the state of Louisiana who have
come. You obviously represent a noble profession and a
profession that really knows no borders. And you're on your
way to express your solidarity with people who fight fires -- they may
talk with a different accent, but they share the same
dangers. And I appreciate you all coming, and I know people
in New York City are really anxious to have you up there.

One of the things I like to remind the enemy is, you thought you
were going to change America when you hit us. You thought by
your actions and by your attacks that somehow this nation was so soft
that we didn't know how to respond. And they're paying a
terrible price for their miscalculation. We're making great
progress in the first theater of this long war to rout terror where it
may exist.

I'm really proud of our military. I'm proud of the job
they're doing. I'm proud of the fact that we've set a clear
goal with certain objectives, and those objectives are being met.

I know the Governor likes to hunt rabbits down in
Louisiana. Sometimes those rabbits think they can hide from
the Governor. But, eventually, he smokes them out and gets
them. And that's exactly what is happening to Mr. bin Laden,
and all the murderers that he's trying to hide in Afghanistan.

But the other thing that the terrorist doesn't understand was how
strong our -- the strength of America. They didn't
understand that. And the strength of America is our
citizens, citizens who love each other; citizens who are decent;
citizens who when called upon can respond to any
adversity. And that's exactly what's happening here on the
White House lawn today. People from all walks of life, all
politics parties, some of who probably have never been to New York City
before, have said, what can I do to help? How can I help
somebody whose lives have been adversely affected by the evil ones?

And behind me sits the answer -- one beautiful, well-manufactured
truck, made by an entrepreneur in Louisiana who asked his people to
work overtime, and they did, to deliver it here today. I
know I speak on behalf of all Americans, thank you for what you're
doing. (Applause.)

No, they roused a mighty nation. They roused a mighty
nation. And we will not be stopped. We're not
going to be stopped overseas -- (applause) -- and we're sure not going
to be stopped here at home.

I hope every family here and all the folks who volunteered to make
this happen have a wonderful holiday season. May God bless
your families, and may God continue to bless America. Thank
you for coming. (Applause.)